LA Sports Roundup - February

By Peyton Schultze

Welcome to our first edition of our new monthly series, LA Sports Roundup.

In this edition, we’ll be discussing the chaos surrounding the Lakers, the shocking moves by the Clippers, the sudden emergence of the Kings in the Western Conference, what’s next for the Rams and a run down of what to expect in the coming weeks from the Dodgers as they head into Spring Training.

Out of Magic? Not so Fast…

On Thursday night, the Lakers erased a 17-point deficit to beat the rival Celtics 129-128 on a game-winning shot from Rajon Rondo.

It’s been a chaotic month for everyone involved with the Los Angeles Lakers. Trade proposals were continuously leaked, players confronted Coach Luke Walton after a loss to the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James just returned from injury and the Lakers lost by 42 to the mediocre Indiana Pacers. Everything was going downhill quickly for the Purple and Gold and the season looked like it was slowly getting out of hand.

Until Thursday night. For one night at least, in the midst of the midseason basketball drama surrounding the 16-time NBA champions, everything just seemed to come together in a gigantic win over their most notorious rival up in Boston.

On a night where they came back from down 18, the Lakers rallied in the second half to overcome the mighty Celtics and secure their biggest win of the season thus far. To be sure, it did not come without any dramatic or stunning moments, however.

With all of the maddening rumors surrounding the future of the Laker organization, they found themselves desperate for a win Thursday night after a terrible loss to Indiana on Tuesday. The Lakers roster is now set for the remainder of the season (unless Carmelo Anthony soon joins the club) and they will not see Anthony Davis walk through their doors until summer at the earliest. That leaves LeBron, Rajon Rondo, two new acquisitions (Mike Muscala & Reggie Bullock) and the Lakers’ young core of players to guide them throughout the rest of the season.

This somewhat awkward roster construction by Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Rob Pelinka has both thrived and been close to terrible at different points throughout the season. Recently, it has been much more of the latter, especially without James for a large part of the season. Their struggles have gained national media attention and have widely been talked about, especially with the rumors about who the team would consider moving for the All-Star, Davis.

And yes, on Thursday, for a few moments, the Lakers seemed like they were going to keep dropping towards the bottom of the Western Conference. But somehow, they recovered and pulled off the tough feat of going into the TD Garden and stealing a win. This Lakers’ team is strange, and Thursday night was a perfect reflection of the dangerous, yet inconsistent, team they are. Yet the strong play of LeBron and Rondo - helped by a franchise record 22 3s - will at least give the Lakers a chance down the stretch as they head into the end of the season. But the success that this version of the Lakers will have will likely come down to the play of the young kids alongside James.

Will Lonzo Ball return from injury fresh and ready to go again? Can Kyle Kuzma be the reliable shooter and scorer that James needs to thrive? And can Brandon Ingram take the next step in his growth to be mentioned as one of the Lakers’ true franchise cornerstones? These questions will all linger until the end of the season in the Lakers’ ultimate playoff chase and pursuit of their 17th world title.

Goodbye Tobias, It’s Been Nice. Hope You Find Your Paradise

As part of the Clippers’ deadline rehaul, Los Angeles shipped forward Tobias Harris to Philadelphia.

During the week, the 8th seeded Clippers traded their best player, Tobias Harris, to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, a 2021 first-round pick and two second round picks in 2021 and 2023. This season, Harris was averaging 20.9 PPG with the Clips and was highly considered for an All-Star spot in the Western Conference. Now, however, he heads to Philadelphia to join up with Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler in their pursuit of a Finals appearance.

In addition, the Clippers also traded Avery Bradley to the Memphis Grizzlies and Mike Muscala (acquired in the 76ers deal) to the Los Angeles Lakers. Both trades helped clear a solid amount of cap room, but will likely hurt the Clippers’ playoff chances for this season.

With their complete roster shift this week, Steve Ballmer, Doc Rivers and Jerry West are clearly ridding their roster of any contracts that they do not intend to keep into the foreseeable future. With that being said, the Clippers figure to be major players in summer of 2019 in free agency. When that time comes, players such as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Boogie Cousins, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving will all become unrestricted free agents, which should force the Clippers to get in the mix and make some noise.

While it’s unsure if the Clippers will actually land any of the select players, Los Angeles is surely making a clear organizational decision with all of these moves. In a town where they consistently compete with the superstar luxury of the Lakers, the Clippers are looking to land one or two of their own stars this summer.

Even with their trades this week, the Clippers still possess some solid young talent such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (#2 pictured).

Luckily for the Clippers, the team has some solid young pieces that may attract some marquee players to the Clippers. Young studs like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Montrezl Harrell are solid building blocks for the Clippers’ future and have been contributors on a nightly basis this season.

As for the remainder of the 2018-2019 season, the Clippers will try to find a way to still slide into the Western Conference playoff picture and make some noise among the West’s best. However, they will face stiff competition for that 8th seed they currently are holding onto, especially from the rival Lakers and Sacramento Kings. The challenge will be tough for Doc Rivers and Co., but they have found a way to defy the odds all year so far. It’s going to be an interesting couple of months for the young Clippers in their pursuit to develop their young players and sneak into the playoffs.

Road Warriors

As winners of their last three, the Kings are hot and on the right track toward a potential playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Make no mistake about it, the Los Angeles Kings still sit dead last in the Western Conference playoff standings. Yet somehow, after their abysmal start to the season, only find themselves five points in back of the St. Louis Blues for the final playoff spot in the conference. The Kings have done some miraculous things in the past decade, but somehow salvaging their season after their awful start and making a push to sneak into the playoff would rank near the top.

Despite their small win streak, the Kings have been particularly impressive on the road. As part of their six game “Grammy” road trip, the Kings are 3-1 so far with wins over solid Eastern Conference opponents in the Rangers, Flyers and Devils. After struggling on the road all year, the Kings sudden change of fortune could be a great signal as they head towards the end of the season.

Of all the factors causing their success at the moment, the Kings’ ability to put the puck in the net is the biggest reason why they have been so successful since the All-Star break. In their four games since, the Kings have 16 total goals (they only have 126 on the season through 54 games) and have been able to outscore their opponents down the stretch. For example, watch the Kings’ overtime goal to seal a 4-3 win over the Rangers this week:

Since the All-Star break, the best player on the ice has been Tyler Toffoli. Toffoli, a key contributor in past season in which the Kings made the playoffs, has had three goals and a game-winning goal in the Kings shootout against the Flyers since the return to action and has been the offensive weapon that Los Angeles needs. Especially with the indefinite absence of Jeff Carter with a lower body injury, the Kings need Toffoli and players like Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown to step up.

Today, the Kings travel to Boston for a battle with the 5th-seeded Bruins (10 AM, FSW) before traveling to Washington to battle with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on the Kings’ final game of the road trip. Over the next several weeks, the Kings will be tested heavily to see if their current run is a fluke or if they are actually poised to make a push into the playoffs despite heavy odds. Many key, in-conference games await against West Coast foes and teams vying for the last playoff spot, so expect the Kings to soon reveal what kind of team they truly are this season.

Restoring Order

Sean McVay and the Rams will face an offseason full of “what ifs” after their failure in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots.

As many people around the world already know, Super Bowl LIII for rough for the Los Angeles Rams. Although the Rams’ defense played great to limit Tom Brady’s effectiveness, the Rams' dynamic offense was held without a touchdown. In addition, Todd Gurley was unable to establish any kind of rhythm and Jared Goff was exposed with different and confusing defensive looks all night long.

With that being said, the Rams will likely return a majority of their Super Bowl roster next year and should be in the thick of the NFC playoff race once again in 2019. Yet as the Philadelphia Eagles showed this year, teams can still have some bad Super Bowl hangovers. This leaves Sean McVay, who did not coach his best game against Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl, to handle any type of doubts the Rams’ locker room may have going into next season.

This Rams’ team is certainly talented enough to make another Super Bowl trip next season - especially with how the defense played down the stretch - and will be expected to win the NFC West crown once again. However, they have to answer some organizational questions this offseason as soon as possible. The biggest of any of these is what happened to Todd Gurley? Although CJ Anderson played magnificent at the end of the season, Gurley was one of the best players in the regular season and made the Rams’ offense so dangerous. With his sudden playoff disappearance, the Rams must figure out this lingering problem before it could somehow get out of hand.

It’s unsure if Todd Gurley was injured during the playoffs, but he was not himself when they needed him the most.

If the Rams want to get to Super Bowl LIV next season, they will need Gurley to be the superstar he is. Next year, the Rams will once again play a first place schedule, and teams will have an entire offseason to break down the Rams’ weaknesses. This means that next season will be even tougher for the Rams, especially when teams like the Packers and 49ers are expected to make some kind of resurgence in the NFC with the healthy returns of their star quarterbacks.

But luckily for the Rams, Gurley is still one of the top three running backs in football when he is at full health. The Rams hope that these playoffs were a fluke for the All-Pro talent, and that he will once again respond next season with a season of yards and touchdowns.

But in the meantime, what do the Rams do in the offseason? Do they re-sign CJ Anderson over concerns about Gurley? Do they add a linebacker to fill up the hole of a weak run defense? Does McVay remove anyone from his staff after the Super Bowl disappointment? It’s not all bright in LA for the Rams right now, but they must figure out a way to move past their crushing Super Bowl loss and head into a promising offseason that could take them one step closer to an elusive title.

The Start of a New Beginning

With superstars like Cody Bellinger (#35) and Corey Seager (#5), the Dodgers will once again have a chance to compete for a World Series title.

It’s been a strange offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They have not done much, except trade Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig to Cincinnati, trade for Russell Martin and sign AJ Pollock to a deal to play the outfield. In addition, they also re-signed Clayton Kershaw to another contract to keep him in blue for a few more years. But other than that, it’s been very quiet surrounding the Dodgers. Many teams expected them to sign Bryce Harper or trade for JT Realmuto, yet did not (or have not yet ) made a strong push.

But heading into spring training just four days until pitchers and catchers report, there’s something a little fresh about the Dodgers heading into 2019. Even after back-to-back World Series losses, Los Angeles can expect the return of their All-Star shortstop in Corey Seager, another jump year for Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy and Walker Buehler and the continued great play of Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner. Throw in the fact that the NL West is expected to be relatively weak again this year, and 2019 could be another interesting year for the Boys in Blue.

Yet many know that the Dodgers will only be judged on their playoff success. They once again have the makings of a World Series squad, yet will face stiff competition in the AL again from the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. So what could finally put them on top and get over the hump in 2019?

There may not be a more important player in all of Major League Baseball in 2019 than the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw.

For the Dodgers, their most important player in 2019 will likely be Clayton Kershaw once again. In 2018, Kershaw had a weird season, filled with a few injuries and a sudden drop in fastball velocity that raised concerns around the league. After signing the Dodgers’ offered contract this season, Kershaw seemed optimistic that he could regain his velocity and be the pitcher he once was, just a few years ago. But the task will be tough. Not only has Kershaw continuously failed in the playoffs when the Dodgers needed him most, but Walker Buehler is rising as the possible ace in the Dodgers’ rotation after a special rookie campaign. Maybe this affects Kershaw, maybe it just pushes him harder to be one of baseball’s best pitchers again. But whatever the case may be, if the Dodgers want to win in 2019, they will need a healthy Kershaw to go along with increased velocity and clutch moments that could define his legacy.

Yet Kershaw is not the only important Dodger. After a breakout season last year, Max Muncy will look to build upon his success and dominate once again in 2019. In addition, the Dodgers will need players like Kenley Jansen and Cody Bellinger to find their dominant forms that they showcased in 2017, before showing their flawed inconsistencies in 2018. But another huge addition will be Corey Seager after return from Tommy John and hip surgeries. With Seager’s return, they essentially are getting back one of baseball’s best players and one of the best bats in their deep lineup. Expect Seager to have a very good 2019, especially after his lost 2018 campaign.

Heading into Spring Training, many players still remain un-signed on the open market, and someone could certainly sign with LA in the coming days. If anything, this could improve the Dodgers’ roster even more and fill any holes they currently may have. In the coming weeks, Dodgers’ Spring Training in Arizona should be an eventful time where we get our first looks at what 2019 may look like for the Dodgers and how they will respond from back-to-back World Series losses. With that being said, don’t look back now, it’s almost time for Dodger baseball.